Old boots are beautiful. Every scuff, nick and scar tells the story of a life well lived. The way the leather creases as it forms itself around each owners’ feet, the unique patina that evolves thanks to rainy days and serious hikes and that time your cheesesteak attacked them and you didn’t do anything about it for a week—that’s what makes a boot a boot. It’s always a cheesesteak.
Division Road—an exemplary shop in Seattle that puts out consistently creative yet also timeless collaborations with Viberg, Tricker’s, Wesco, White’s, and more—just blessed their website with an artistic and telling visual representation of how great boots (and one Viberg shoe) age.
Dubbed the Patina Post, their second-annual ode to rebuildable hand-grade footwear (here’s last year’s) features gifs of nine boots and that Viberg slipper transforming from straight-out-of-the-box new to their current state today brought on by varied uses and levels of wear. Some of the transitions are subtle, others are pretty damn extreme, and all are beautiful. It’s really cool.
I’ve put some of my favorites below, but definitely be sure to head to Divison Road’s site to see the rest—and read more about these boots’ journeys.
Viberg Natural Chromexcel Roughout Service Boot: 14 Months
Love the denim indigo bleed up top.
Viberg Natural Dublin SB Service Boot: 3 Months
Three months!
Wesco British Tan Domain Jobmaster: 12 Months
Wesco boots are known to be pretty indestructible, and this is proof that over the course of a year at least, that’s an accurate statement.
Tricker’s Acorn Antique Stow Boot: 2 Years, 8 Months
Saved my favorite for last. The Tricker’s Stow boot, in this color specifically, is such a classic country boot that looks incredibly fresh and borderline posh when new, but morphs into something far, far bootier over time. And no, that isn’t the commando sole’s nubs wearing all the way down—this boot got rebuilt with a sole conversion.
Will this show you exactly what your boots will look like in a couple years, if you buy the same ones? Of course not—they’ll look like yours, not theirs.